Authentic Brands Group Adds Lee to a Closet That Already Has Reebok and Brooks Brothers in It

Authentic Brands Group has completed its acquisition of Lee, the denim label it agreed to buy from Kontoor Brands back in May, with the deal officially closing this week. Terms were not disclosed, which is standard for Authentic Brands Group, a company that has made a business out of buying brand names and letting other people manufacture and sell the actual pants.

Lee has been making jeans since 1889 and still generates about $1.5 billion a year in retail-equivalent sales across 73 countries, with almost 40% of that coming from outside the US and Canada. Authentic Brands Group has already lined up four regional licensees to run the brand going forward: One Jeanswear Group for the US and Canada, Experience Group for Europe, HiMaxx for mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macao, and Union Group for Mexico, with more partners expected to push Lee into activewear, workwear, and other lifestyle categories. "We are thrilled to welcome Lee to the Authentic family," said founder and executive chairman Jamie Salter, who framed the brand as having exactly the heritage, recognition, and consumer loyalty Authentic Brands Group looks for before writing a check.

That's the pitch every time Authentic Brands Group buys another name, and it's worked often enough that the roster now runs from Reebok to Brooks Brothers to Juicy Couture without much apparent strain. Lee joining that list means one more century-old brand gets run by a licensing machine rather than the people who used to actually make the thing, which is either the smartest trade in retail or a slow-motion bet that nostalgia alone can keep a jeans brand relevant once nobody who owns it has ever cut a pair of denim.

Source: PR Newswire (Authentic Brands Group)

Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →